June 6, 2007

Unions save 15 jobs at TVNZ but quality concerns remain

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union and the Public Service Association have saved a quarter of the 59 news and current affairs jobs set to be cut by TVNZ, but remain concerned about the effect the cuts will have on news quality.

Under the revised plan around fifteen positions have been saved, including one Auckland reporter, two current affairs researchers, a librarian for the news reference library and a number of programme editors and camera operators.

EPMU National Secretary Andrew Little says the unions have fought hard to save as many of the jobs as possible.

"We've fought hard to change TVNZ's position on this through mediation and a strong public campaign, and we've now exhausted all our legal options. At the end of the day we've saved fifteen jobs that would have otherwise gone, so in that we can claim a small victory.

"But the reality is that losing even thirty jobs in an already overstretched newsroom can only be a bad thing for news quality, and we'll be watching very closely to see how these changes impact on TVNZ's ability to deliver on its Charter responsibilities.

"In the meantime we'll be working with our members to make sure the transition process is fair and that no one is disadvantaged by the redundancy process or after the restructuring process is completed."

PSA National Secretary Richard Wagstaff says the challenge is now on for TVNZ to fulfil the public's expectations of a genuine public broadcaster.

The EPMU and PSA represent around 300 TVNZ staff between them.

ENDS

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